Appeal No. 1999-1825
Application 08/799,258
view of Walker and the admitted prior art.
Reference is made to the appellants’ main and reply
briefs (Paper Nos. 30 and 34) and to the examiner’s answer
(Paper No. 33) for the respective positions of the appellants
and the examiner regarding the merits of this rejection.
Clements, the examiner’s primary reference, discloses a
bucket auger 10 “for boring relatively small diameter holes in
the ground to [a] depth of several feet to facilitate
placement of an explosive charge to that depth. A primary use
of this operation is to explosively create a foxhole for
military use” (column 3, lines 45 through 49). The bucket
auger, which is designed for compact storage and transport,
consists of a T-shaped handle 12, two handle extensions 14 and
16 and an elongated cylindrical body 18 having openings 24
along its length, cutting blades 20 at its distal end and a
female connection 22 for the handles/extensions at its
proximal end. Clements teaches that
[t]he auger would produce an approximately
3.25" diameter hole up to 42 inches deep. An
explosive charge can be introduced to the bottom of
the bore which can after detonation explosively
produce a fox hole [of] sufficient depth and volume
to contain at least one soldier.
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